The Party Line
by Overworkedunderwhelmed
Summary: Maybe it was the sheer exhaustion. Maybe it was the long hours, or the secret identities, or the battles that kept running late into the evening. That was the only reason it had taken Marinette and Adrien so long to start noticing the random, occasional late night phone calls to one another. Calls that neither one of them remembered making...


noun  
1\. a policy, or the policies collectively, officially adopted by a political party.  
"they rarely fail to toe the party line"

2\. dated  
a telephone line or circuit shared by two or more subscribers.

Thanks to Enberlight for the beta read! 3 I did some additional tinkering, so there may still be a few errors that slip through that I will clean up when my brain is a little more cooperative tomorrow. :D

* * *

Marinette groaned, her sleep-heavy eyes peering out into the darkness. She wasn't sure what had woken her up, breaking her out of an otherwise sound sleep.

Her fingers bit into the comforter, listening intently for the inevitable plea for her to move and face down yet another Akuma.

Yet minutes had passed and the room stayed still and dark.

Confused, she sat up in bed, peering over to where Tikki's little desk drawer bed sat occupied, bathed in a soft wash of moonlight.

The phone sitting beside her pillow, glowing into the dark of night.

Marinette's brow furrowed, squinting over at the bright light. At the unexpected warmth beside her on the pillow.

Pulling the still warm phone into her hands, she frowned, blinking down at glowing screen.

That's funny. Adrien had been online only an hour ago.

Marinette bit her lower lip, puzzling what on earth might have kept him up so late.

On that first day that she had gotten his number, she had been ecstatic, committing every digit to memory, just in case she klutzed out and lost his number.

The day she - well, Alya, really - had dialed him up on Facetime, she'd been overjoyed. Even though Adrien was clearly less than pleased that his Father was keeping him locked away, the smile on his face at seeing all of them was far brighter than any that had graced her own walls..

When he'd offered the remote tutoring services, she'd been hard pressed to say no. Adrien was definitely a little better at understanding - and explaining - the vagaries of Madame Mendeleiev's lessons. It wasn't like she could explain that all her time as Ladybug had made it impossible to commit the extra time she should be putting into understanding it.

Instead, Adrien never questioned it, just sweetly giving of his own time and knowledge.

And she thought she wouldn't be able to fall for him any further...

She flopped back against the bed, blowing her bangs out of her face as she stared up at her phone. Her brows furrowed. Maybe she should send a message.

Sorry! I must have missed your call. Her fingers tapped against the screen. The phone was here beside me. I must have accidentally answered it while I was asleep…

As she pressed send before she could second guess her own words, Marinette sighed, blowing a few her bangs that had fallen in front of her eyes. Even on text, she hadn't entirely quashed that anxious tendency to ramble.

But if Adrien had called her, then he must have needed something.

I mean...of course, you can call me anytime you need. But I had fallen asleep a bit earlier than I had planned to...so if you still needed something...

* * *

As the first streaks of daylight slipped through his bay windows, Adrien's eyes popped open.

With a heavy sigh, he tugged his comforter up over his head.

Too many early mornings waking up only to rush off to one of his Father's many photo shoots left his body all the more prone to the sunlight's pull.

But after a few minutes of trying to slip back into slumber proved fruitless, he snagged his phone from the nightstand, figuring he could steal a few extra minutes to peruse the Ladyblog for new images of his Spotted sweetheart.

Only to have his attention snagged by the flurry of text messages.

Sorry! I must have missed your call. Marinette had typed...hours ago.

Adrien blinked, sitting up in bed as he quickly checked the call log.

Sure enough, there was a call showing up on his phone.

Except He definitely hadn't been on his phone after midnight.

Sighing softly, Adrien scrolled slowly through her messages.

The thoroughly kind thought and concern from Marinette entirely warranted the smile curving his lips. She'd been up far too late herself, worrying about him.

He needed to send a message to her as soon as he could once Nathalie had stepped out of the room, but he wanted to make sure he got into school early too, to finish up the rest of his homework he'd had to leave half finished - and to reassure his friend in person.

She deserved at least that much, even if he could never tell her why he had been so tired.

Adrien traced back through his messages as he dropped into his seat at the table.

Last night, Chat Noir had leaped in through the window exhausted. He had barely managed to brush his teeth and de-transform before he'd dropped into bed. Hawkmoth had kept them busy - sending a record three Akuma at them during daylight hours. They hadn't been the toughest battles they'd ever faced, but the number was definitely a strain on his energy - and Plagg's.

By now, Plagg would have at least stirred, grumbling for him to steal away the best cheeses from the table.

As if he could possibly forget…

Adrien shook his head, puzzling over this little mystery as he took his first bite of the eggs. Clearly, the frenetic pace of villains appearing in Paris wasn't helping either of them.

But that only left him more confused. His door had stayed locked while he slept - or at least while he pretended to be...

When he was younger, Adrien tossed and turned for sure. He was sure he still did it now, especially on those days where he was a little more inclined to feel Mom's absence.

He wouldn't have ended up half off the bed sometimes, otherwise.

But even that hadn't been nearly so often after he'd met Ladybug. After he'd had Nino, Alya, and Marinette around helping to keep his spirits up.

Maybe with the anxiousness of all the Akuma activity, he'd just been tired enough to fall into old habits, knocking his hand against the phone while it rested on the bedside table?

Adrien's blonde brows furrowed, his fingers ruffling his hair as he willed his sleep-addled mind to wake up.

Then again, none of that explained just how had he gotten his own phone unlocked without realizing it.


End file.
